Mail-catcher.



W. T. MERCER.

MAIL CATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18, 1914.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Q now H? o1 %1 elk/tonne;

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

allwhom it may concern. 7

f WILLIAM T. MERGER, or WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA;

MAIL-CATCHER.

I Be it known that LWILLI'AM TMERCER, acitizenfof the United States,residing at 3 Wilmington, in the county of New Hanover 1 and Stateof'North carolinayhaveinvented certainnew and useful Improvements inMail-Catchers, of which the following s a specification.

' This inventlon relates to a mail catcher,

and the principal object of the invention is to provide an improveddelivering and receiving mechanism by means of which mail compa'nyingdrawings whereine Figure 1 1s a top-plan viewjof devlce and trackdevice, the car being shown sacks be received from a moving train anddellvered to a moving-train; the-catchmg' means being so;mounted that itmay move tothe place of delivery a fter'catching the sack. l

Another object of the invention is to provide the train and the stationwith catching carriages'mounted upon tracksso that after the mail sackshave been caught, the car-- riages may travel to points where the sackswill be conveniently removed.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the carriages thatthey ma'yfmove freely upon the tracks; but will be prevented from havingany vertical play while traveling along the tracks.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved deliveringarmfor the 'trainethe delivering arm being a'djustably mounted so thatit-may be moved-to. extend from the train to any extent desired.

Another object of the invention is'to so construct this delivering armthat the arm does nothave to be longitudinallyadjusted, but simply'needsto be moved in the arc of a circle to causeits free end to exten fromthe carthe desired amount.

1 This invention is illustrated in the ac the, train -"insection; Fig-r2- is' a transverse sectional in'which a saok isdelivere'd to astationdeview 'througha car and shows the manner vice and also the' manner inwhich a sack is taken up by the car device, the track device 7 andstation device being shown in elevation; "Fig. as an enlargedfragmentaryne of the carriage, thesack-catchl'ng a r m belng shown in section; Fig:4 is 'a vertical sectional view takenthroi'lg'h the center of Fig.

3; Figr5 is an'enlargedtop plan viewof .thedelivering arm'car'rie d'bythe train; Fig. '6 is an enlarged view of the outer-endpor Specificationof Letters Patent.

side of thecar by means of bolts 24.

tion of the catching arm of the carriage; Fig. 7 is a view similar toFig. 4 and shows a modified form of track and carriage; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the track and carriage ofFig. 7

The mail car 11 shown in Fig. 1 is provided with a door-way 12 in whichthere is ing formed in the crane arm and into one of the openings 17formed in the rack 14.

Patented Oct. 19, 191 5. [Application filed February 18,1914. Serial No.819,565.

' The tracks 18 and 19are carried by the V I car 11 and extendfromthe-door-way 12 in opposite directions toward the ends of the car-Carriages are mounted upon these tracks, one carriage being used in casethe train is moving in one direction and the other carriage being usedin case the train is moving in the opposite direction. These tracks maybe formed as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or maybe formed as shown in Figs. 7and 8. The track shown in Figs. 3 and l comprises the main supportingrail 20 which is carried by the-supporting beam 21' and the upper andlower rails 22 and 23 which are *i in the "form of metallic stripssecured to the A guard strip 25 which'is carried by the support 26extends downwardly and has its lower edge positioned in alinement' withthe lower edge. of the r'ail22. This guard strip 25 engages the upperwheels of a carriage whichwill be described and assists in holding thecarriage in place and prevents any I 95 danger of the mainsupportingwheel of the carriage from becoming derailed. The

outer-endportion of the guard strip 25 is provided with an opening 27through which the upper wheel of the carriageis' intended to project andreleasablyhold the carriage at the outer end of the track.

In "F igs.---7 and 8 the track comprises a sheet metal housing 28 whichis provided with depending flanges 29 forming a-slot 30.

This housing takes the place of the main rail 20" shown inyFig. 4L andthe lower rail 31 corresponds'with the lower rail 23 shown fin.

Fig. 4. In this formv it is not necessaryto provide the upper rail 22since the inner wall 32' of the housing takes the place-of the rail 22.It should be noted that the outer wall seer the housingtakes the placeof the p I guard 25. These tracks in both of the forms shown are securedto the outer face of the car wall and have their inner end portionscurved in through the door-way) and held in placevby the braces 34;

' ;The track 35 which is mounted near the Irailroadftrack is supportedby the post 36 andhas its end portions 37 38 curved away fromtherailroad track and leading into. houses 39 and 40, supported by meansor posts 41. This station track 'may 'be formed as shown in Figs. 3and-'4 ormay be formed as shown in Figs, 7 ,and S. I vThe deli've'ringarm 42 which extends from the upper end of'thestandard 43 is providedwith upwardly inclined sack-supporting hooks544 which are similar inconstruction' to the hooks 4 5 carried byythe; crane arm 15 and ,shown'very clearly Fig." 5. From anin-.

spection of Fig. 5 it will be seen that each of these hookscomp'risesflan outer arm 46 ,whi'chextends .at right angles tjothe cranefarm 1 1 and is then bent to form an arm 47 which extends .at an inclinefrom. the outer and connected with. the crane arm.

I A carr1age49 is mounted uponeach tracks 18 and 1-9, and the carriage5,0 is

mounted upon the track 35. These carriages areso mounted that when themail sack is caught, the carriage .will travel along, its

track and move toflthe curved end ofvthe track so that the mail saclrmaybeconveniently removed; In Figs. 8 and4 therehas been shown one formofcarriagefand in Flgs. 7 and 8 there has been shown a modifiedform ofcarriage. These carriages whlle voperating in the same manner have beenpro vided with modified constructions so that the carriages willaccommodate themselves 1 to the modified' forms of tracks'showninthe.tw0 sets of figures.

In F igsV S and 4 vthe carriage comprises a .body' portion or plate 51whichlhias its end w, portionsbent to form bearings '52 and 5 3,"whichbearings cooperate with :the journalv brackets 54 and 55 torotatab'ly support the. rollers'56' ands? These rollers extend throughopenings formedin the cplate' 51,

the upper roller 56- being of such size that when the carriagemountedupon oneuof the car tracks such as 19 reaches the outer end thetrack, the roller 'will extend through" the opening 27 and releasablyhold the car-' riagein a set'position. The main support ing wheels":which are provided with grooved edges as shown in Fig.4 are mounted uponthe main track QO and rotatably con 'nected with the plate 51 :by meansof the axles 59'. Anarm 60 extends fromthe plate 51 and is provided witha telescoping outer end portion 61 which isheld in an adjusted positionby means of theset screw;62. This permits the outer section 61 ofthesupportend ofthe arm 46 toward the crane arm 15' with its freeend,portion 48 curvedinwardly arm 64 beinggl provided with an abutment ingarm to be adjusted so that ithe catchr ing' arms may be extended theproper dis-f 'Itan'ce to "engagethem'ailsacks and remove them fromthe-holding devices. i The outer end of each of'these arms 61 isprovided with fingers 63 and 64 which extendat right anglestothe arm 61,the Outerendofthe supporting rollers resting upon the bottom "ofthehousing and bridging the slot 30 and carries upperguiding rollers '71which engage the inner and outer walls 32 an d 33 of thehou'sing toprevent transverse movement .oftheibody portioninthe housing; A plate; 1

72-whichfis in the nature of ahanger bracket extends'downwardly from thebody portion- 68 through the slot 30 and is provided-at its I -,h jlowerend with arms 7 3 with which-theguid 0ft e ing rollers 74 arerotatably connected; the

rollers j74 resting against the rail strip '31 and prevent the plate T2from "binding 1; H against the sides of the flanges 29. The sack-jsupporting arm 75 is secured to the plate 72 j beneath thehousing'28'and has its outer end portion constructed in the same; manneras v the outer-'endiportion of the armsliown in '1 .Fig. 6; arm maybeprovidedfwith a telescoping outer-end -portion, or if-de'sired Q;

may be rigid;

In operating thismail :catcherpthei sack 76 which is'to'be deliveredtothe: train is suspended from the arm 42 by placing its supporting eye77 .over zone-of? the hooks 44.7

The mail sack-78 which is toibe delivered to the station is suspendedfromthe crane arm 15,by-;passing;its' eye 79gover one 7 of the ;1;

hooks 45 carried by the crane arm 15. The

c'arriagefil) isplacedpas 'shownjin Fig. lat l the end of the track 35with'the'fingers 6l3 7 and 64 extending i the direction in' which l thetrain is coming. 'It should be noted that fltheouter-end portion 61 ofthe arm carried by the carriage ;50im'ay be removed fromtheinner-gndportion and replaced with the. fingers extending inthefloppojsite directionif necessary -Thecarriage 49 is pushed u wardlyfrom the interior ,of the'car and 7 h 4 travels along its supportingtrack until 1 it reaches the en'd'of' the-track and at this Point:

the. carriage will remain until themailsack :1; is gcaught.-Whenithe'train passes Athei eta -1 7 tiom the eyeofthegs'ackfti'isengaged' by the fingersofthe-'arm extendingfrom the carriage .49{and the sack =will .:be removed. v The force of theblow -received willcause i h a l a r= 1 l l} along the-track? 19 and into the interior ofthe car'where the sack can be removed by thev mail clerk. When the eyeof the sack 7 8 is engaged by the supporting hooks shown veryclearly vbe provided with a plurality ofcarriages as in Fig. 5 prevents anydanger oftheeyes binding since theinner ends of the arms 47 are curvedas shown inFigi-5 and thus prevent the eyes of the mail sacks from beingcaught and causing either the carriages to be damaged or the eyes of themail sacks to be broken. If desired the station track may shown inFig.1, the sack-engaging arms thereof being designated by 81 and 82.This isprovidedso that more than one sack may be caught, or so thatsacks maybe caught from successive trains without it being nec essaryfor the station master, to remove each sack as soon as delivered. Inthis form the mail clerk in the car 11 sets the crane arm 15 at thedesired angle in order to engage the desired catching arm. It should benoted that the arms 50, 81, and 82 are of different lengths so thatthere will be no danger of the mail sack being caught by the wrong arm.When the mail sack is caught by the station device, the carriage movesinto the housing at the end of the track. This housing may be providedwith a suitable automatically closing door which will prevent the sackfrom being removed from the housing by an unauthorized person. Thehousing will. protect the sacks from the weather and prevent the mail inthe sacks from .being injured by rain or snow and also prevent danger ofthe mail being stolen. It should be noted that if desired the traindevice may be provided with the form of track shown in Figs. 3 and 4andthe station device provided with a-form of track shown in Figs. 7 and8. It is, of course, obvious that the train device and the stationdevice may be provided with either form desired or that both devices maybe provided with the same type of track according to the wishes of theperson constructing the mail catcher. It is thought, however, that itwould be Copies of this patent may be obtained for better to provide thetrain device with the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 so that the upper wall56 may enter the opening 27 and thus hold the carriage at the outer endof the track. The station device can be oper ated equally well witheither form of track.

What is claimed is: 1. In a mail catcher a track comprising a main rail,upper and lower rails, and a guard extending in alinement with said itupper rail, and a carriage slidably connected with said track, saidcarriage including a body portion, main supporting: wheels mounted uponsaid main rail, a lower guiding roller engaging said lower rail, and anupper roller engaging said upper rail and the inner face of said guard.

2. In a mail catcher a track, and a catchcatching element comprising 'acarriage including a plate forming a body portion and having itsupper'and lower end portions provided with pivot ears, guiding rollersing element mounted upon said track, said rotatably mounted between saidpivotears and extending through an opening formed in said plate, mainsupporting wheelsrotatably connected with said plate intermediate saidguiding rollers.

3. In a. mail catcher a track comprising a mainrail, upper and lowerguiding rails extending parallel to said main rail, a supporting stripextending above said upper guide rail, a depending guarding stripcarried by said supporting strip and extending parallel to said upperguide rail, and a carriage provided with supporting wheels mounted uponthe main rail of said track and having upper and lower guiding rollersengaging said guide railswith the upper guide rollersengaging said guardstrip.

4. In a mail catcher a track comprising a main rail, guiding railspositioned above and below said main rail and extending parallel to thesame, a supporting strip extending above said upper guide rail, and aguard strip carried by said supporting strip and extending parallel tosaid upper guide rail.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

S. R. ADAMS, W. J. SPOONER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington,D. G.

